Our misgivings about new domicile rules in J&K coming to the fore, says former CM Omar Abdullah

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 26

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has reacted strongly to the Jammu & Kashmir administration issuing domicile certificates to nearly 25,000 people, including an IAS officer.

“All our misgivings about the new domicile rules in J&K are coming to the fore. We in @JKNC_ opposed the changes because we could see the nefarious design behind the changes. The people of J&K on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountains will be the sufferers of these domicile rules,” Abdullah wrote on his Twitter page.

All our misgivings about the new domicile rules in J&K are coming to the fore. We in @JKNC_ opposed the changes because we could see the nefarious design behind the changes. The people of J&K on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountains will be the sufferers of these domicile rules.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 26, 2020

After the abrogation of article 370, the Permanent Resident Certificates (PRC) law was abolished and replaced by the new domicile law. Under the new law introduced in J&K on April 1, 2020, the domiciles have been defined as those who have resided for a period of 15 years in the UT of J&K or have studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10-12 examination in educational institutions located in J&K.

The domiciles also include children of those central government officials, all India services officers, officials of public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies of the central government, public sector banks, statutory bodies, central universities and recognised research institutes of the central government who have served in J&K for a total period of 10 years. The law has empowered tehsildars within their territorial jurisdiction to issue domicile certificates. J&K has also been empowered to notify any other officer to be the competent authority for the issuance of a domicile certificate.